Game apparatus



F. F. HUGHES GAME APPARATUS Filed Deo. 5l 1954 Patented Sept. 10, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFIE GAME APPARATUS Forest F. Hughes, Waterloo, Iowa, assigner of one-half to John F. Rosgen, Waterloo, Iowa Application December 31, 1934, Serial No. 759,920

3 Claims. (Cl. 273-139) 5 tive elements after each participants play, or porarily placed thereupon for a purpose to be 5 after a series of plays, and including a plurality described hereinafter. These plates are of wood of signaling devices in an electric circuit with a or other insulating material. The upper plate 3 novel arrangement of alternative loops for chance has a plurality of holes il therethrough arranged closing separately, in permitting different values regularly in both longitudinal and transverse to the plays depending thereon. rows. 10

Another object of my improvements is to sup- The Under plate 5 has like holes l therethrough ply a novel and useful transferable contact elearranged to register below with the holes 4 in ment having added means for separably locking the plate 3 above. 'Ihe plate 5 has across both it in a chosen position in the apparatus. transverse ends on top insulating spacing bars 6 With the foregoing and other objects in view upon which the ends of the superposed plate 3 l5 Wyich will appear as the description proceeds, are supported. A branched electric contact body the invention resides in the combination and aris mounted upon the top of the plate 5 and serangement of parts and in the details of con- Cured thereto, and has a bar part 8 along one struction hereinafter described and claimed, it longitudinal side wall of the plate, and a plubeing understood that changes in the precise rality of parallel spaced arms 9 extending across 20 embodiment of invention herein disclosed can the plate to its opposite side wall, these bars be made within the scope of what is claimed being located medially between the transverse without departing from the spirit of the invenrows of holes or apertures 'i but immediately betign, low the transverse rows of holes l in the plate I have accomplished these objects by the means 3 above. 25 which are hereinafter described and claimed. In Fig. 3 is shown in under plan an arrange- In the appended drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective ment in multiple 0f a pail 0f HGH-Contacting View of my improved game apparatus with porelectric contact bars lil and l2 respectively tions broken away, and with certain separable plaed OPPOSely on the plate along the lOIlgparts opened outwardly and tilted back relative tudinal side edges thereof and having respec- 3Q to usually underlying other parts. Fig. 2 is a JUVGly Parallel Spaed arms Il and i3 intertop plan of an underlying apertured plate of the positioned. These bars are positioned in` alternaapparatus, including a pair of the transferable tion across the lower ends transversely of the contact elements separably interlocked thereon. rows of holes 'l in said Plate.

Fig. 3 is an under plan view of the same plate. The numeral 22 deIlOGS a CODduCtrlg bar 35 Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal cross section of spaced TOIH and l Dalallel With 011 Side Wall all of the overlaid elements of the apparatus, and 01 eaCh Of the abOVe plates, and three electric including therewith one of the transferable conlamps 251 and 25 are mounted upon this bar tact elements in coacting position with a conin electric conduction therewith.

40 tact being eleoted between this Contact and an- An electrical conductor I9 connects the medial 40 My invention relates to improvements in game apparatus, and an object of my improvements is to supply an apparatus which embodies chance devices for regulatable variations in its indicaother manually operable terminal in closing a certain circuit loop in the electric series of loops. Fig. 5 is a medial vertical longitudinal section of one of the transferable contact elements and of its lining insulation.

My improved apparatus may be employed as a social game by any number of persons in turn, or by a single person, and in the latter case, it may be used as a chance device in the fortuitous selection by a player of goods and merchandise, but is so devised that it is unsuitable for gambling purposes.

The apparatus may be placed upon a platform or container l suitable for holding its superposed components in proper alinement, as may be desired. Essentially the apparatus combines separable and registering rectangular plates 3 and 5, overlaid, and may include a top covering sheet 2 of diaphanous paper removably and temlampV 2li with the upper branched conducting bar 8, a conductor 2li connects the lamp 23 with the lower branched conducting bar i, and a conductor 2i crossing insulation it connects the lamp i5 with the lower branched conducting bar l2. The numeral 29 denotes a manually operative terminal pin on a exible wrapped conductor 23 which is one terminal of a battery 2 whose opposite terminal conductor 26 is in circuit with said conducting bar 22.

In Fig. 5 is shown a contact device consisting of a small elongated plate conductor l5 having downwardly projecting conducting pins Il and i8 of different lengths, and with its under face covered with insulation I6. This is a bridging device, and is shown in Fig. 4 in use bridging across an upper contact arm 9 on the plate 5 with its insulation I6 breaking contact therewith, the short pin I'I being inserted in a hole 'I of said plate, but the pin I'I being shorter than the hole receiving it, does not Contact terminally with the lower contact arm II. This pin I 'I is supplied for the purpose of locating and holding the device I in position across the arm 9 with the longer pin I8 inserted in another hole 'I and with its terminal end in contact with a conducting arm I3. As the device I5 is removable, it may be mounted across any one of the upper arms 9 with its short pin II located in a hole 'I below and with its longer pin I8 contacting with either lower conducting arm I3 or II as the case may be.

In playing, after a plurality o1 devices I5 are mounted across bar arms 9 anywhere upon the upper face of the plate 5, as indicated in full lines in Fig. 2 and in dotted lines in Fig. 3, with the upper plate 3 positioned to register with the plate 5, a player may insert the pin 29 in any hole 4 in the plate 3. Usually, but not necessarily, a thin diaphanous paper sheet 2 is mounted loosely upon and to register with said plate 3. The upper ends of the holes 4 can be seen therethrough, but the player cannot look down through the holes 4 and see the upper face of any device I5 therethrough. When the inserted pin 29 pierces the paper sheet 2 then enters a hole 4 above a bar arm 9 on the plate 5 below, a circuit loop is closed through the middle lamp 24, which may signify a lower counting value than the other lamps.

The lamp 24 is lighted whenever the pin 29 contacts with a bar arm 9, except when it contacts with a bridging device I5, as shown in Fig. 4. In that case a circuit is closed by way of either a bar arm I3 or II as the case may be, with a lamp 25 or 23 respectively, and these lamps may have different and greater values respectively than the middle lamp 24, whereby the player is sure of the least count on the lamp 24 whenever he does not have a pin contact with the device I 5.

In practice, the plates 3 and 5 are provided with a much larger plurality of holes than shown herein, so that a player cannot memorize the position of the bridging device I5 readily in a succession of plays, hence the apparatus is not conducive to gambling use.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a source of electric current, opposed relatively fixed and removable insulating plates having alined apertures therethrough, a conducting bar on the upper face of the fixed plate and having branches between apertures therein, oppositely positioned conducting bars on the lower face of the fixed plate having unconnected alternated branches between each other, three electrically actuated signaling devices in circuit with each other and with said source of electric current, one of said devices being in circuit with the iirst conducting bar, and the other devices respectively in circuit with said other bars, said other bars covering in alternation certain of the apertures in the iixed plate, headed conducting pins each consisting of a` conducting bridging head to be positioned across any of the branches of the conducting bar on the upper face of the fixed plate and insulated therefrom, and having stems at opposite ends of which one only may traverse an aperture alongside a branch of the said conducting bar to end-contact with a branch of either of the conducting bars on the lower face of the xed plate, the other stem being shorter and insertible in an aperture at the opposite side of the conducting branch so crossed without contacting with a conducting branch or either bar below, and a selector 5 conducting pin movably mounted in the circuit of said current to be inserted in any aperture of the removable plate, to either contact with a branch of the conducting bar upon the top of the fixed plate to close the circuit through one 10 of the signaling devices only, or to contact with one of the headed conducting pins to close the circuit iortuitously through either of the other signaling devices only.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, a source of electric current, opposed relatively xed and removable insulating plates having alined apertures therethrough, a conducting bar on the upper face of the iixed plate and having branches between apertures therein, oppositely positioned conducting bars on the lower face of the iixed plate having unconnected alternated branches between each other, three electrically actuated signaling devices in circuit with each other lupon a common conducting bar and also in circuit with said source of electric current, one of said devices being in circuit with, the rst conducting bar, and the other devices respectively in circuit with the other bars on the lixed plate, said other bars covering in alternation certain of the apertures in the fixed plate, headed conducting pins each consisting of a conducting bridging head to be positioned across any of the branches of the conducting bars on the upper face of the fixed plate and insulated therefrom, and having stems of different lengths at their opposite ends oi which one only may traverse an aperture alongside a branch of the said conducting bar to end-contact with a branch of either of the conducting bars on the lower face of the iixed plate, the shorter stem being insertible in an aperture at the opposite side of the conducting branch crossed without contacting with a conducting branch below, and a selector conducting pin terminal of a iiexible conductor in circuit with said source of electric current and to be inserted in any aperture of the removable plate, to either contact with a branch of the conducting bar upon the top of the iixed plate to close t-he circuit through one of the signaling devices only, or to contact with one of the headed bridging conducting pins to close the circuit fortuitously through either of the other signaling devices only.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, a source of electric current, oppositely relatively fixed and removable insulating plates having alined apertures therethrough, a conducting bar on the upper face of the xed plate and having branches between apertures therein, oppositely positioned conducting bars on the lower :face of t0 the iixed plate having unconnected alternated branches between each other, three electrically actuated signaling devices in circuit with each other and with said source of electric current, one of said devices being in circuit with the first conducting bar, and the other devices respectively in circuit with said other bars, said other bars covering in alternation certain of the apertures in the iixed plate, headed conducting pins each consisting of a bridging bar with a layer of insulation covering its lower face and to be positioned across any of the branches of the conducting bar on the upper face of the fixed plate, and having long and short stems at opposite ends for electrical contact of the longer stem only with a branch of 10 of the conducting bar upon the top of the fixed plate to close the circuit through one of the signaling devices only, or to Contact with one of the heads of the bridging contact pins to close the circuit fortuitously through either of the other signaling devices only, and a rupturable thin translucent sheet covering the top of the upper insulated plate to be punctured by said selector pin before entering an aperture of the plate.

FOREST F. HUGHES. 

